The trade in Chukotka in the first Soviet decades: reliance on the kulaks, self-supply and selective "potlatch"

The author explores the social, political and mental context of several episodes in the trade in Chukotka in the first Soviet decades. In the interaction with the indigenous population, tradespersons relied on the experience of pre-Soviet times, prioritizing the kulaks and reproducing traditional ties and hierarchies. Self-supply of scarce “European” goods emerged as the priority of the tradespersons. In addition to their own consumption of the goods, some of them arranged a kind of potlatch for selected persons, generously treating them at the expense of the state.